Contents

Understand

The Wirral peninsula is situated across the River Mersey from Liverpool. It is accessed via one of two Mersey tunnels connecting Liverpool with Wallasey and Birkenhead. Wirral is a short drive away from Chester and North Wales to the south and is within one and a half hour's drive from the Lake District to the north. It forms one of the metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside.

Get in

By road use the M53 motorway (via the M56 and the M6). Birkenhead (Queensway) and Wallasey (Kingsway) toll tunnels also connect the Wirral to Liverpool. You can also go on a guided tour through the Mersey foot tunnel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 5PM and Saturday at 10AM.

Under and Over the Mersey walk through the Mersey road tunnel takes place when the road tunnel is closed on Sunday 19th July.

By train go to Hamilton Square Station (in Birkenhead) on the Wirral Line, via Chester Station or Liverpool Lime Street Station.

By coach (National Express) to Birkenhead.

Get around

Merseyrail (part of Merseytravel) provide the main train services in the Wirral with a dedicated Wirral Line, trains running every 15 minutes until midnight most days.

There is also the much less used Borderlands Line, where trains run only hourly, via stations Bidston, Upton, Heswall, Neston to North Wales terminating at Wrexham.

Merseytravel operate buses across the Wirral. Birkenhead bus station has a information counter.

See

Tranmere Rovers Football Club (Prenton Park), Prenton Park, Prenton Rd West, Birkenhead, CH42 9PY (about 40 minutes walk from Rock Ferry station). Although this club has always lived in the shadow of Liverpool it has a long tradition and a great family atmosphere - well worth a visit

Eastham Ferry and Eastham Country Park. Eastham Country Park lies approximately 1 mile from the M53 Motorway junction 5) and is reached locally by the A41 (New Chester Road) and Ferry Road via Eastham Village. Public Transport - the nearest Merseyrail Station is Bromborough (approximately 1 mile distance). A bus services is available along the A41 to Bromborough and Eastham Village to Eastham Ferry. Since the Middle Ages, a ferry service operated across the river Mersey between Eastham and Liverpool, the early ferries being run by monks from the Abbey of St. Werburgh. By the late 1700's, up to 40 coaches each day arrived at a newly built pier, carrying passengers and goods for the ferry. Paddle steamers were introduced in 1816 to replace the sailboats, but the demand for a service declined in the 1840's with the opening of a railway link between Chester and Birkenhead Woodside Ferry. In 1846, the owner of the ferry, Thomas Stanley, built the Eastham Ferry Hotel and shortly after, the Pleasure Gardens were added to attract more visitors. The gardens were landscaped with Rhododendrons, Azaleas, ornamental trees and fountains. Attractions included a zoo, with bears, lions, monkeys and antelope, an open air stage, tea rooms, bandstand, ballroom, boating lake, water chute and a loop-the loop roller coaster. Entertainers performed in the gardens during summer, and included Blondin, the famous tight-rope walker who once wheeled a local boy across a high wire in a wheelbarrow. In 1894, the Manchester Ship Canal was opened by Queen Victoria, bringing added prosperity to the area and a Jubilee Arch was built at the entrance to the Pleasure Gardens in 1897 to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee. In its heyday Eastham Ferry was known as the 'Richmond of the Mersey', but its popularity declined during the 1920's and the last paddle steamer crossing took place in 1929. The Pleasure Gardens fell into disrepair during the 1930's and the Iron pier and Jubilee Arch were later dismantled. In 1970, to commemorate European Conservation Year, the area was designated a Country Park and today, it is once more a popular place of recreation.

New Brighton Fort Perch Rock, Marine Promenade, New Brighton, Wirral, CH45 2JU (4 minutes walk from New Brighton Station). a coastal defence battery built between 1825 and 1829. It was built to protect the Port of Liverpool and as a fortified lighthouse to replace the old Perch Rock Light. It was originally built on an area known as Black Rock and was cut off at high tide, but now coastal reclamation has made it fully accessible. It is currently open as a museum.

The Wirral Way and Wirral Country Park

The Wirral Way. The Wirral Way, a path on the track of an old railway, 12 miles long and goes from West Kirby to Hooton in mid-Wirral. It is situated within Wirral Country Park.

Wirral Country Park features a 12 mile footpath following the line of the old West Kirby to Hooton Railway line offering superb views over the Dee Estuary to Wales. Today it is a must for a family day out and it's facilities include Visitor Centre, Bird Hide, Toilets, Picnic Areas, BBQ area, Café, and Green Shop. The Green Shop contains an information and sales desk where you can pick up leaflets, guides, books of special interest and information staff will be happy to assist you. You can access the beautiful beach from the bottom of Station Road or Tinkers Dell Steps.
No train station is nearby Wirral Country Park, but the 22 (and 22a) bus routes run to Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston from Chester via Willaston, Neston and Heswall.

Ashton Park, Westbourne Rd, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 4DH (about 10 minutes walk from West Kirby Station). The most northerly point of the Wirral Way.free.

Hadlow Road Station, Hadlow Road, Willaston, Neston, CH64 2UQ (about 30 minutes walk from Hooton station on the Wirral railway line). The most southerly point of the Wirral Way.free.

Birkenhead

Birkenhead Park (Visitors Centre), Park Drive, Birkenhead, CH41 4HY (5 minutes walk from Birkenhead Park Station), ☎+44 151 652 5197. designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly-funded civic park in Britain. American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted incorporated many of the features he observed into his design for New York's Central Park.free.